Laminatecd fabric



A22 5 umun llllllll p 1942. M. SPERBER I 2,294,518

LAMINATED FABRICS Original Filed June 1, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l v' i T7772 Hunt 22 m lllllllll mum! |||l||||| Illllllll I INVENTOR.

I BY '2 I 6 I LAMINATED FABRICS Original Filed June 1, 19s? 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY (SAW-M o [ATTORNEYS I Meyer erbef Patented Sept. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAMINATED FABRIC Meyer Sperber, Philadelphia, Pa. Original application June 1, 1937, Serial No. 145,915. Divided and this application March 28, 1940, Serial No. 326,319

8 Claims.

This invention relates to laminated fabrics, and more specifically 'to garment labels.

This application is a division of my cofipending application Serial No. l45,9l5,.filed June 1, 1937.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide an article of manufacture of the char acter described, which will efficiently perform the purposes for which it is intended, which is simple and economical ofconstruction, which can be expeditiously, conveniently and safely manipulated, and which can be readily manufac-' tured and assembled.

Another object is to eliminate sewing in connection with the securing of one fabricto another in cases where continuous or discontinuous areas 7 of one fabric are to be attached to areas of another fabric, or where a fabric is to be wholly or in part folded back upon, and secured to, itself, e. g., belts and selvedges, respectively; and to accomplish these elfects by preparing a fabric which is so constructed that it will fuse, on one side only to another fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide a label which may be adhesively attached to a fabric or ganment without the use of separately applied. adhesive; which may be applied during the original formation of the garment without any steps additional to those that'are normally carried out in the making of the garment and without interfering with, or. harming, the usual garment-making apparatus; which may be attached at some period after the garment has been made and without disarrangement of the latterrwhich is so securely attached that the garment may be laundered throughout the life of the garment without the labels being detached; which is prepared by the usual machinery for weaving fabrics; and which has a front or face which does not differ from labels in general.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

-The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: a

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic represenlayers, into each other.

tation of the back of a piece of fabric embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is .a somewhat diagrammatic representation, in cross-section, 'of the fabric shown in s- Fig. 3 is a view of the front of a fabric of. the general type shown in Fig. 1; and

-Fig. 4'is a plan view of a shirt to which has been attached one of the labels shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a portion of a label attached to a portion of. a garment; and

Fig. 6 is a greatly enlarged diagrammatic representation showing the attachment of certainthreads of the label to the warp or woof of a garment such as is shown in Fig. 4. I 'This invention contemplates a label which, by

the use of a solvent or other softening agent, may, under pressure, and preferably with heat, be caused to adhere permanently to a fabric or garment which may be woven, knitted, or otherwise constructed.

The label or fabric, which is to be applied, is a multiple ply interweave having layers forming substantially a single entity by reason of the weaving at intervals of threads with adjacent To all intents and purposes, the front of the label appears like any other woven label of the same general type. The back, however, is woven of threads which soften somewhat on the application of a suitable agent such as heat and/or a solvent and/or a plasticizer. Preferred materials for the adhesive threads on the back are cellulose derivatives and especially cellulosic esters such as cellulose acetate and cellulose nitrate. A yarn made of resin maybe used for the adhesive threads.

In the joining of fabric layers according to this invention the soluble, fusible threads may be incorporatedinto the back face of each layer and the layers attached as described below. Usually, however, it is sufficient if the threads are incorporated into the back face of only one of the fabrics. They may be added as extra threads in the warp or filling or both and in weaving they are thrown into the back of the fabric andinterlocked with the face'yarn in such a way that they are not visible on thefront'but do float on are incorporated on the proper face in the proper pattern. Thus, for selvedge as in draperies, they may be along one edge or in a stripe spaced from the edge by the width of the selvedge and parallel to the edge.

One fabric may have a face of one color and another fabric, may have a .face of a different or contrasting color. By weaving the soluble, fusible threads into the back of one of these fabrics, the way is prepared for joining them backto back to give a reversible product. Difficult weaving problems are thus avoided.

The size of the soluble, fusible threads and filaments will depend on th type of fusing necessary; for example, if an article requires numerous launderings, a larger area of such thread would be required. If an article does not require laundering, but only dry cleaning, a smaller percentage isrequired.

In the drawings, l denotes a piece of fabric such as a label made of the usual warp and woof threads, I2 and H, which may be white. Interwoven with these are certain threads which may be colored and which appear on the front of the label at predetermined points l6. These points It may form a design, e. 3.. a trade-mark or name (seeFig. 3). Anyone colored thread is carried on the back between those points at which it is to be interwoven with and show through onthe front. It may :be carried on the back for as far as a half an inch or more, depending upon the design,-the size ofthe thread, and so on. The carried portion of a thread is known as a float and, unless it is too long, the float itself is not interwoven with the main fabric. These floats l8 may be distinguished in Figs. '1' and 2 of the drawings from the adhesive threads 28, the former being shown somewhat larger than the latter.

The cellulosic ester threads 20 are interwoven with the floats l8 and, in those cases where such floats are present, the former are not otherwise attachedto the main body of the fabric. Thus,

in some cases where there are many or large float areas, the adhesive thread may be secured practically entirely to them. Usually, the floats run in only one direction, 1. e., with the warp or.

V for example every twentieth or fortieth woof thread. as at 22 in Figsl l and 2, along with the regular warp thread at that -point. -They are normally indistinguishable against the front of the fabric at these points, especially if they are caught in tightly and between the main warp and woof threads at those points. As they are softened later in the process, by the application of a solvent or other softening agent, the adhethen besive threads at these points are either present in such relatively small amounts, or they tend under the tension of the weave to so pull toward adhesive by, the front of the fabric. Over those areas where there are no floats other. threads may be interwoven only with the cellulosic the back, that there is no adhesive on, nor any introduced occasionally as a warp or woof thread and themselves be carried on the back for long distances to form the second ply. See Fig. 6. Certain extra ones of the warp or woof threads may be arbitrarily carried behind the main fabric and serve to be interwoven with the adhesive threads. 4

The adhesive threads may be incorporated with the main fabric in such areas as may be desirable. In Fig. 1, they are shown extending asstripes spaced from one edge so that the latter may be folded back against and secured to the stripe to form a selvedge. Certain areas of a fabric may be similarlyv prepared for attaching appliqu thereon.

The fabric or label is applied to the other fabric at any convenient time. When the label is to be attached to the collar band of a shirt 24, for example, (see Fig. 4) it is pressed to the band at the time when the band would normally be pressed, whether or not the label were to be added.

A softening agent such as any well known solvent, e. g., acetone, ethyl lactate or glacial acetic acid, is applied to the back of the especially made fabric, e. g., label, just prior to its being pressed against the other fabric, e. g., collar band. Only sufficient solvent or softening agent is used to soften the acetate thread. These agents do not dissolve wool, cotton, linen, or rayons, such as viscose, cuprammonium, etc. The latter, under the pressure, does not press through the threads of the front ply or layer of the label nor through the material of the collar band. Heat may be terwoven at 22 with the label l0 and which are pressed interlockingly with the shirt 24. This interlocking is shown greatly enlarged in Fig. 6,

where l2 and I4, as identified by reference to Fig. 2, are the warp and.woof threads of the label. The cellulosic threads 20 are shown in the condition in which they are after they have been softened somewhat and pressed against the warp (or woof) threads 26 of the second fabric. Both the .warp and the woof threads of the second fabric are not shown for purposes of clarity. The threads 20, due to the softening and pressure, have been deformed and grippingly and interlockingly are attached to the threads 26 of the second fabric.

The woven ply of acetate thread, mechanically interattached to the front of the label, attains a permanent union between the label and the shirt. Every attached label which has been tested has been found to remain firmly fixed to the shirt, despite repeated washing in a commercial laundry, until after the material of the shirt, not near the label, has begun to disintegrate. It is known to the art that a label attached by a thermoplastic coating will not remain attached for more than a veryfew washings-many less than are required to break down shirt material.

When the second fabric, to which the especially woven first fabric or label isto be attached, is itself made in whole or in part of thread which the solvent will attack, the first fabric may be positioned in a weak or dilute solution of the solvent, in the nature, say, of fifty to sixty percent, for a length of time sufilcient to soften threads in the back of the first fabric. Then thelatter may be pressed with sol ly heat against thefonmer. The solvent evaporates solely by interweaving whereby the fusing capacaway before it can harm the former. v

Different garment retailers require different ished and folded. Thereafter, the manufacturer is at the mercy of the retailer whose label has been sewn on. The labels made in accordance with the present invention, on the other hand, can be quickly, adhesively, and permanently attached whenever desired, and without dlsarrang ing the garment. 7

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the, following claims are intended to cover all of the generic .ric having fusible yarns exposed on the outer side of the front ply, adapting the backing cloth to be fusibly united to a face fabric through the instrumentality of said fusible yarns, and fusible yarns on the inner side of said frontp y etween said plies, adapting said plies to be fused together, the front and back plies being initially united by interweaving whereby the fusing capacity of the fusible yarns is perpetuated until such time when said backing cloth shall be applied to the face fabric and subiectedto a procless of fusion. 7

' 2. Backing cloth comprising a double ply fabric having fusible yarns exposed on the outer side of the front ply, adapting the backing cloth to be fusibly'united to a face fabric through the in- -strumentality of said fusible .yarns, and fusible on, the outer side ofsaid back ply being devoid of fusible yarns.

3. A double ply fabric having fusible yarns ex-. posed on the outer side of one of the plies, adapting said fabric to be fusibly united to another fabric through the instrumentality of said fusible. yarns, and fusible yarns on the inner side of said ity of the fusible yarns is perpetuated until such time as said fabric shall be applied to another fabric and subjected to a process of fusion.

4. A double ply fabric having fusible yarns exposed on the outer side of one of the'plies, adapt- -ing said fabric to be fusibly united to another fabric through the instrumentality of said fusible yarns, and fusible yarns on the inner side of said oneply between said plies, adapting said plies to be fused together, said plies being initially united solely by interweaving whereby the fusing capacity of the fusible yarns is perpetuated until such time as said fabric shall be applied to another fabric and subjected to a process of fusion, the outer side of the other of said plies being devoid of fusible yarns.

5. A cloth article and attached label comprising a piece of cloth and a label pressed against said piece of cloth, said piece of cloth comprising; a plurality of fibers, said label comprising a mul- I tiple'ply fabric having cellulose derivative threads incorporated therewith and visible on the back thereof only, said threads. being interlockingly attached to the front ply of, said fabric, said threads having deformed shapes which permanently grip said fibers, whereby there is a permanent union between said article and, said label;

-' A cloth article and-attached label comprising a piece of cloth and a label pressed against said piece of cloth, said piece of clothcomprising a plurality of fibers, said label comprising a milltiple ply fabric having resinous threads incor porated therewith and visible on the back thereof only, -said threads being interlocking'ly attached in the front ply 'of said fabric, said threads havtween said article and said label.

7. A cloth article and attached label comprisinga piece of'cloth and a label pressed against said piece of cloth, said piece of cloth comprisone ply between said plies, adapting said plies to be filled together, said plies being initially ing axplurality of fibers, said label comprising a multiple ply fabric having thermoplastic cellu-' lose derivative threads incorporated therewith and visible on the back thereof only, said threads beingginte'rlockingly attached to the front ply of said fabric, said threads-having deformed 'shapes which permanently grip said fibers, @whereby there is a permanent union between said article 8. A cloth article and attached label comprising a piece of-cloth and a label pressed against said piece of cloth, said piece of cloth comprising a plurality of fibers, said label comprising a multiple ply fabric having cellulose acetate threads incorporated therewith and visible on the back thereof only, said threads being interlockingly attached to the front D1101 said fabric, said threads having deformed shapes which permanently grip said fibers, whereby there is a perma- 1 nent union between said article and said label. 

